A new fundraising initiative to pay for a day’s care at a Hampstead hospice has been launched by broadcaster and former Tory MP Gyles Brandreth.

The 66-year-old visited the Marie Curie Hospice, in Lyndhurst Gardens, Hampstead, with his wife Michele to mark the launch of the Pay for a Day project yesterday.

Pay for a Day invites supporters to raise or donate the £7,767 required to fund nursing care, meals for patients and a host of day care services for a 24-hour period at the hospice.

Mr Brandreth said: “The Marie Curie Hospice in Hampstead makes a profound difference to people with terminal illnesses and their families and I am very pleased to support this new initiative.

“Pay for a Day is a chance for people to get behind the hospice and ensure that more people and their families receive this wonderful care and support at a very difficult time.”

The hospice has already received pledges for over a week’s worth of days, from supporters across north London.

Jewish charity the Pears Foundation, based in Old Brewery Mews, Hampstead, has pledged to pay for three days a year for three years.

PR firm Lansons will pay for a day’s care on December 13, the birthday of their friend and colleague Francesca Marvell, who passed away at the Hampstead hospice.

Yesterday, as well as meeting patients and staff at the hospice, Mr Brandreth met with volunteer Allan Morgenthau, who chairs the hospice’s development board - a group of individuals who raise funds for the hospice in the Hampstead community.

Mr Morgenthau said: “I cannot think of a more meaningful way for businesses, community groups and individuals to express their support for our local Marie Curie Hospice than by paying for a day’s care.

“Whether you decide to pay for a day yourself or as a business, sports club, church, synagogue or mosque, it is a vital commitment to the extraordinary work done by the team at the hospice.”

For more information about Pay for a Day, visit mariecurie.org.uk/en-GB/nurses-hospices/our-hospices/hampstead/Pay-for-a-day